Moorestown council voted to adopt a comprehensive Historic Preservation ordinance earlier this year in an effort to safeguard the township’s architectural and cultural heritage.
The adoption follows years of collaboration among the Historical Society of Moorestown; Saving Historic Moorestown; council; and residents, culminating in a process supported by a 2024 grant from the New Jersey Historic Trust.
The ordinance represents a key implementation measure of the township’s updated Master Plan Historic Preservation Element, prepared by Clarke Caton Hintz and recently adopted by the planning board.
In addition to the local district, the ordinance also formally recognizes seven historic sites across the township for their individual significance. As part of the measure’s implementation, the township recently appointed a Historic Preservation Commission to review proposed changes to structures within the historic district and designated sites, guided by standards from the secretary of the interior.
“They (the Historic Preservation Commission) will be working with a subcommittee to work on design standards over the next several months, so maybe by the fall, we’ll have some public meetings about design standards, and then it will come to council,” noted Deputy Mayor Sue Mammarella at council’s May 19 meeting.
Earlier in the session, council presented two proclamations: for Jewish American Heritage Month, observed in May, and for ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) Awareness Month, also in May. A proclamation for the Jadon Strong Foundation, a nonprofit that provides resources for children facing pediatric brain cancer, was presented on May 17, and a proclamation for the American Cancer Society’s Night of Hope came on May 9.
“Thank you for all that you do to bring folks together in our community, especially in times where we need – as a community – to heal,” Mayor Quinton Law said to Brooke Mailhiot, president of the Moorestown Jewish Association (MJA). “Thank you, and I look forward to continuing to see all of the great work that you do.”
The MJA – according to its website – fosters relationships through community-based Jewish experiences such as holiday events, educational activities and gatherings for people of all ages.
“I want to thank all of our supporters of the Moorestown Jewish Association, and I want to thank the town for supporting and always being a partner with us,” Mailhiot stated. “We hope that we can continually share the heritage and culture of Jewish Americans here in Moorestown.”
ALS – according to the ALS Association’s website – was identified in 1869 by French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot, but it became widely known internationally in 1939 when it ended the career of New York Yankees great Lou Gehrig. For many years, ALS was commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
“After my doctor had told me that I had ALS, I knew that it would be a permanent and ever-changing journey in my life,” explained Moorestown resident Candace Donovan, who was given six months to live after she was diagnosed with the disease. “My emotions argued with the diagnosis that the doctor had just told me. I was upset with how my plan for my life had just suddenly changed in a second.
” … I still – to this day – I laugh, and I cry about it,” she added. “I told my doctor that he was so wrong because I’m Irish and we fight, and we fight hard … I’ve been battling for my life and beating ALS for 31 years, eight months and 41 days … I called that doctor every Aug. 23 until one day, they told me that he had passed away.
“And what did I respond to on the other end? He wasn’t Irish, was he?’”
